


Six of Hearts

by luftballons



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 11:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8325499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luftballons/pseuds/luftballons
Summary: Six kisses among six friends.





	

**I.**

Every time Matthias kisses Nina, it feels like a homecoming. It feels strange to admit that to himself, that Nina might ever be _home_ , when home was a distant land that had forsaken him. Or maybe he'd forsaken it? Or maybe, in the mess of everything that happened – but Nina's lips leave no room for question and no room to dwell. Nina isn't a mind-reader ( _Djel_ , but he hopes she's not) but she seems to always understand him. Knows exactly when his mind wanders too far into the north, knows when he's gone far away from him. And every time, she kisses him and brings him home to her. It is a home he never wants to forget, a harbor he will always find.

With Nina, he feels stronger. Like maybe he can deign to run his hand through her hair when they kiss, or maybe that's just how they're both getting a little tipsy. It's usually not in him to kiss in front of friends. But he does anyway, despite Jesper's cheers. (He could punch him for that, he really could.) He pulls her a little closer and holds her a little tighter and her lips make him believe maybe he could pretend it's just the two of them for a little bit.

When she pulls away, he's beet red from blushing and he knows it must show terribly against his white skin because she's grinning like she's just won thirty million _kruge_ and he feels like an idiot. “Nina--” he starts to protest, but she puts a finger to his lips, stopping him.

“I've got you right where I want you, you're not going anywhere.” She might be right. But he also might die of embarrassment first.

**II.**

Nina kisses Inej in a drunken burst of joy. Maybe more appropriately, she crashes into her, lips first, like a wave. She can feel Matthias glaring at her over her shoulder, like he intended to glare sobriety right into her but she didn't care. “What's a kiss between friends?” She asks, before going for another. She can feel Inej smile as she tries to navigate her way past her lips but the Wraith doesn't want to have any of it. Nina just laughs and presses a few more sloppy kisses to Inej's cheeks and orders them another round of drinks. She's just happy they're all alive. 

Inej slowly starts to help Nina back into her own chair despite Nina's protests. Which, as it is, range from “You're warm Inej,” to “Us pretty girls just have to stick together.” But she's not as drunk as she's pretending. She's warm and happy and glad to be surrounded by friends, she just knows it'll be a better excuse for her beautiful, blond, prudish Fjerdan. Bless his northern heart she loves him so, but she wants to kiss other people every once and awhile, too. 

“There's more than one kind of love,” she tells Inej, “and I've got a different kind for all of you.” 

**III.**

Inej's kiss is a stolen one. She lurks in shadows and waits until everyone has disappeared. Everyone except for Kaz. She has been listening to the stiffness of his movements since he watched Nina drunkenly lick her face. And while she knows no one else would be able to tell, Kaz's jealousy is just as loud to her as Mattias' own. When she sneaks up on him, Kaz starts.

“I told you never to sneak up on me,” he says, his voice icy. 

“I didn't. Maybe you're just too drunk to pay attention,” but she had. She takes his gloved hand, brings it up to her mouth, and kisses it before disappearing back into the shadows, before she remembers how bad an idea it was, before Kaz starts yelling at her. She's proud of herself all the same.

**IV.**

Jesper catches Inej later, when he's gambling. “How come I didn't get a kiss?” He asks, teasing. His fingers drum along the table while he waits. “I could use the luck.” And, really, he could, although he was pretty sure it wasn't going to come from a simple kiss. So he's surprised to find her walk up to him. Surprised when she rests her hand next to him and watches as the wheel spins. There it is, this is it – 

And loses. He groans loudly, checking what chips he's got left and how much he can gamble still tonight before he's in too fully over his head. Inej pats his hand and he's not sure if it's condescension or sympathy or pity or what. “I'm too beautiful to lose this much,” he pouts. 

Inej presses a kiss to Jesper's cheek, “Better luck next time.” And disappears off into the shadows. Her lips do seem to ease the sting of losing just a little bit.

**V.**

Wylan kisses Jesper like a true gentleman. There's no classes for that, no teachers to tell you how it goes but Wylan would like to think that he's at least a little bit competent with kissing. Kissing Jesper feels like finishing a particularly good sonata. It feels like the audience giving a standing ovation. Kissing Jesper makes the whole world feel like it maybe makes a little more sense. Wylan lets Jesper slip his tongue into his mouth and Wylan lets Jesper pull him close. And, honestly, Wylan would let Jesper do any of the things he teased him about. As long as they got to do them together.

“You're pretty good at this, Merchling,” Jesper tells him when he finally pulls apart for air. He doesn't have the advantage of playing the flute, and they could tease Wylan all they wanted but the flute had given him some great bonuses when it came to kissing, thank you very much.

“You're – you're not so bad, yourself,” Wylan replies, trying to play it cool in front of the others. He kind of wanted something else to drink. He kind of wanted to start kissing Jesper again. So he goes for the best of both, taking a big swig of his ale and then grabbing Jesper back. This time he is much less of a gentleman.

**VI.**

Kaz Brekker does not kiss anyone. His one true love will always be vengeance, and in the moments where his mind wanders and he watches everyone touch each other like it's just this simple and _easy_ thing that anyone can do, he reminds himself of that. In the frustration that boils underneath the surface, he tries to imagine what it would be like to have his hands around Pekka Rollins' throat. He thinks about how sweet it will be to steal his life, to dismantle his empire. He imagines death instead of thinking about how Inej does not let Nina go too far, as if she's waiting for someone better. He imagines what glorious profits he will have instead of listening while Jesper flirts endlessly with Wylan.

So wrapped up is he in his vengeance that he does not notice when Jesper slides his way onto the bench next to him. 

“Hey,” Jesper says, “You look a little lonely all by yourself. You know we're all partying, right?”

Kaz narrows his eyes and waves his hand dismissively, “yes, I've noticed how you all celebrate.”

“Even the great Kaz Brekker can surely take one night off of scheming to spend some time with the people he cares about most in this world.”

“I'm fine,” Kaz replies, his voice rough. Inej would've been able to guess at what was hiding underneath the surface, maybe. Inej tended to understand more than Kaz gave her credit for. But maybe he wasn't giving Jesper enough credit either, because Jesper hasn't left. He's not sure how he feels about that. So instead he asks, “Don't you have money to lose?” He figures its enough to shake him.

But still Jesper doesn't leave. “I did that already.” Jesper is still, his energy quieter than normal. It surprises Kaz.

Kaz Brekker doesn't kiss anyone, but when Jesper slides his hand along the bench, his fingers resting against Kaz's own gloved one, Kaz doesn't pull away. And for Kaz, that's pretty much the same thing.


End file.
